


Dear Korra

by CoinOfDestiny



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Canon Compliant, Coming Out, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, LGBTQ Themes, Letters, Post-Book 3, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-28 20:28:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30145161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoinOfDestiny/pseuds/CoinOfDestiny
Summary: Excerpts from Asami’s life after Korra left to heal in the South Pole, giving focus to how she harboured feelings for her best friend whilst she stayed behind in Republic City.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Comments: 7
Kudos: 36





	1. Hollow

**Author's Note:**

> I would be lost drifting along  
> Floating up high time after time  
> And there you'd be shining brightly  
> Your smiling face to guide my way
> 
> Bloody and bruised brought to my knees  
> When beaten down when broken up  
> You would appear reach out to me  
> Heal every wound and make me whole
> 
> – “Hollow”, by Yosh

Her office felt so empty now. It was too big, and because of this it was another in a long list of rooms that served as a manifestation of the loneliness Asami had felt since Korra departed to recover in the South Pole two years ago. Even so, this was one of the few places it was easier to occupy her mind and free herself from relentless worry. Work helped, and for the last two years she had spent as much time as possible doing just that. It didn’t matter that her routine had become just shy of workaholism, to her it was fine so long as she wasn’t spending every waking moment thinking about how she was powerless to meaningfully help her friend.

Had Korra wished it, Asami would have dropped everything and accompanied her to the South Pole in a heartbeat, but her friend didn’t want that. It was Korra’s decision, and Asami would always respect that, so instead she joined Mako and Bolin in penning letters to her. She wrote often, but when you never get a response it can be hard to know if you are helping, or hurting. She hoped the letters would offer some comfort and help to remind her they would always stand by her no matter what. The Avatar might be an almighty being, but she was still human, and if Asami was desolate most days she couldn’t even begin to imagine how Korra was feeling after what she had been through.

Nothing had been the same without Korra, especially their group of friends. Bolin rarely returned to Republic City since he was off with Varrick and Kuvira, so she hardly ever saw him anymore. Mako was around at least, but he too was almost always busy with work. Asami presumed they too were working as much as possible in an effort to take their mind off things, and since they were all either apart or busy the trio didn’t see each other very often. _Trio_. The word didn’t feel right. Team Avatar was supposed to have four members, and it really wasn’t the same without the one who brought them all together.

On top of everything, as if loneliness coupled with an inability to help your best friend’s suffering wasn’t enough, there was Asami’s ever aching heart. In the time before Korra was poisoned the pair had gotten much closer to each other, and now that they were apart and each day was beginning to feel longer than the last she had begun to realise – as crazy as it may sound – that she had feelings for her best friend, the Avatar.

This newfound affection was both enchanting, and terrifying. Asami wanted to share her soul with Korra, to tell her that every day without her was agony, that she meant the world to her. Nevertheless, it didn’t matter, because as much as she wanted to say all of this, she couldn’t. With everything Korra had to deal with right now she needed the support of her friends, not one of them pouring their heart out. Unable to act on her feelings, Asami said nothing on the matter to anyone, and was left with no choice but to agonisingly get through each day, sending amiable letters of support and patiently awaiting the chance to see Korra again.

This day had been like most days, Asami arrived at Future Industries Tower far earlier than most of her employees and wasted no time getting behind her desk to continue drawing up and amending various blueprints. Her personal assistant, Lia, was due to arrive shortly with business correspondences, and then the rest of the day would be spent between meetings, planning new projects, and trying to keep up her masquerade that everything was okay.

She was completely engrossed in the plethora of documents and blueprints scattered on her desk, but her immersion was momentarily broken by the sound of someone striding into her office.

“Good morning, Miss Sato. Your mail is here.”

_Lia. Right on time as always_. “Morning. Just leave it all on my desk, please.”

Lia was a Fire Nation girl only a few years younger than Asami. Today, as with every other day, she was dressed in formal attire befitting of a prominent company with her brown shoulder length hair tied back in a neat ponytail. Prior to her current position she had been an intern at Future Industries for about a year, and during that time Asami had found her to be both pleasant and helpful, so she decided to hire her on full time as a personal assistant.

“I see you’re in early again.” Lia remarked, making no effort to mask the concern in her voice. “Do you want me to get you some breakfast? I could brew tea if you like. We have ginseng in the kitchen, I know it’s your favourite.”

“Tea sounds good, thanks.” Asami replied with a half smile.

Lia nodded, placed the letters on the desk, and turned around to leave. Once she was about halfway across the room, she sharply spun back around on her heel to face Asami. “Oh! I almost forgot, there’s something I need to tell you about. I thought it was a little…unusual.”

“Alright, what is it?” Asami asked, not looking up from her work and continuing to jot down notes on a blueprint.

“One more letter came in this morning, I’ve got it here. This one’s not like anything we usually get. It was delivered by special courier, and it’s marked with the Water Tribe sigil.”

Asami swallowed thickly and immediately stopped writing. She remained motionless and continued to look downward, lost in a surge of thoughts, staying deathly silent all the while.

_Water Tribe? Future Industries doesn’t receive anything from there, which means it’s probably a personal letter. And if it is, something like that could only be from–_

“Miss Sato, are you okay? You’re really pale; do you need me to fetch a healer?” Lia asked, hastily moving back towards her.

Asami snapped her head up to face Lia. “No, no…I’ll be fine.” She had no idea if that was true, but needed to say it at least, if only to calm herself a little. Without further delay, she got up from her seat and walked over to Lia. “Please, give it to me.”

Upon seeing her boss’ anxious visage, Lia swiftly handed over the letter. Asami leaned back against her desk and clutched it with both hands, studying its every detail. The envelope was coloured in a deep blue, and prominently inscribed in the centre was the Water Tribe sigil. Asami felt like it was staring right at her, like _she_ was staring right at her, patiently waiting for a reaction.

Reaching behind for a letter opener, Asami noticed her hands were beginning to shake in trepidation as she searched the cluttered desk. When she finally took hold of the knife, her own body betrayed her as she lost all finesse and dropped it to the floor.

“Let me get that.” Lia said, rushing forward to pick up the blade. “Would you like me to open it for you?”

Asami was reluctant for a moment and clasped the letter close to her chest. Eventually, she nodded in acceptance and passed it to her assistant, appreciative of the help, but annoyed at herself for spontaneously devolving into a clumsy mess. Lia efficiently sliced open the envelope and handed it back with haste, imposing no judgement onto Asami.

Trying to ignore the accelerated rhythm of her own thumping heartbeat, Asami gathered all the composure she could muster and took back the letter. With the utmost care she slid the paper out, discarded the envelope on her desk, and unfolded the message. Glancing over it, she was met with handwriting that was haphazard and slightly smudged, but despite this it was clear the author had put tremendous thought into the words. It gave the impression of someone out of practice, but making an effort, nonetheless. If it wasn’t already obvious to her, she was now absolutely certain who the letter was from.

**_Dear Asami,_**

**_I'm sorry I haven't written to you sooner, but every time I've tried, I never know what to say. The past two years have been the hardest of my life. Even though I can get around fine now, I still can't go into the Avatar State. I keep having visions of Zaheer and what happened that day. Katara thinks a lot of this is in my head, so I've been meditating a lot, but sometimes I worry I'll never fully recover. Please don't tell Mako and Bolin I wrote to you and not them. I don't want to hurt their feelings, but it's easier to tell you about this stuff. I don't think they'd understand. I hope you’re well, please write back soon; I really miss you._**

**_Your friend,_ **

**_Korra_ **

Asami’s eyes lingered upon the end of the letter for a few moments before she set it down behind her. An uncomfortable silence permeated the room as she stared at the floor and continued leaning back against her desk, unmoving save for the occasional blink. She had no idea how to feel. In this moment she found herself stranded somewhere between delight and despair. She should have been overjoyed after hearing from her best friend after two long years, but her elation was marred by sorrow for Korra. The Red Lotus were long gone, but even after all this time their poisonous sting was still hurting the Avatar every day, and Asami could do precious little to truly help.

Korra had done so much to help others and bring about positive change for the world, and yet after everything she was left suffering alone. It hurt Asami to her core thinking about how her friend was still in immense pain, even after all this time, and it didn’t take long before thinking about it all became too much to handle. Her lips quivered as she shut her eyes tight in an effort to hold back the pain, but despite this, her tears still streamed out in a moment of despair.

After spending the past two years bottling up every heart-rending thought, she could no longer hold fast the floodgates containing the rush of emotion that now erupted through her mind. But despite finding herself stranded amidst a sea of sadness, something bright emerged from the depths of her mind, a sense of hope she had not felt in a very long time. Korra was still hurting and was afraid she may never fully recover, but Asami was certain her friend would find a way out of the darkness and emerge whole.

Korra might have still been away, but now that she had written back it felt as though they were once again connected. On the day she left for the South, Asami had felt like a part of herself had left too, and ever since then she had felt hollow and incomplete. But after reading this single letter from her best friend she felt as though some warmth had returned to her heart and brightened her very soul. Even if they were only connected through their letters to one another, having Korra back in her life meant the world to her, and she knew in her heart of hearts that she never wanted to be without her again. Although tears continued to steadily trickle down her cheeks, her lips settled into a soft smile of contentment, leaving her with a lingering bittersweet sentiment.

Lost in a world of her own thoughts, she was suddenly jolted back to her present surroundings upon hearing the door slowly creak open. She directed her gaze toward the noise and was met with the sight of Lia attempting to slink back into the office with a ceramic teacup, smiling warmly as she moved closer. Asami felt bad for not even noticing her assistant had left.

“Where’d you go?” Asami asked with a conspicuous crack in her voice before quickly wiping her eyes.

“You seemed absorbed in that letter, so I thought it best to leave you be.” Lia explained. “I brought your tea. You really look like you could use it.”

“Yeah…thank you.” Asami whispered with a sniffle, offering a small but grateful smile toward the other woman. She stood up straight in an effort to regain her composure before moving behind the desk and collapsing back into her chair.

“If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask. It’s really no trouble.” Lia grinned gently, handing over the tea. “Even if you just need to vent, I’m willing to listen.”

Asami had lost the strength to talk but managed to muster up enough of a nod to put Lia’s mind at rest, at least temporarily. Following this, her assistant promptly left, not wishing to be a disturbance.

Asami gingerly sipped on her tea whilst her gaze remained fixated on Korra’s words. She took all of the blueprints and documents atop her desk, arranged them into a neat stack, and set them aside on the floor beside her. Work could wait, she had a letter to compose.


	2. Allowed to be Happy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When the night has come  
> And the land is dark  
> And the moon is the only light we'll see  
> No I won't be afraid  
> Oh, I won't be afraid  
> Just as long as you stand, stand by me
> 
> So darling, darling  
> Stand by me, oh stand by me  
> Oh stand, stand by me  
> Stand by me
> 
> – “Stand by Me”, by Ben E. King

“Ugh, this is hopeless.”

With a weary, exasperated grunt, Asami crumpled up the sheet of paper in front of her and flung it across her office. She heard it bounce against the wall and fall to the floor, condemned to share the same fate as the other dozen or so just like it which were strewn across the room, further marring the order of her otherwise impeccably tidy space and gradually sending it closer to complete disarray.

For the past few days she had spent her time considering how best to reply to Korra’s letter, and so far every writing attempt had been tainted with failure. The latest such endeavour had failed in mere minutes, and with sunset looming it was likely yet another day was set to conclude with a total lack of progress, leaving Asami feeling dispirited and looking more than a little glum. She hadn’t slept much of late, and no longer felt compelled to try and conceal the dark circles under her eyes with makeup, instead choosing to openly display her sleep deprivation to the world. Given how she hardly saw anyone anymore, it really didn’t matter to her.

As though it were a cruel jest on the part of fate, adding to her newfound inability to write a simple letter was the deafening torrential rain which pounded against the window, further aiding in the gradual erosion of her sanity. Writing to Korra had always come to her so easily in the past, but now that she had received a response nothing seemed even nearly good enough to send back. It felt as though every moment she failed to write, she was abandoning her friend to further loneliness and despair.

Ink, both dry and wet, stained her hands and the hem of her sleeves, showcasing her commitment to writing, as well as her lack of success. At this point her efforts were beginning to seem as though they would never come to fruition, but she had to try, for Korra. Reaching across her desk, she took another blank sheet of paper and readied herself to try again.

**_Dear Korra,_ **

**_I was over the moon when I received your letter. It’s wonderful to hear from you after so long_ **

_Great idea Asami, highlight the fact that she didn’t write sooner, that definitely won’t make her feel guilty or anything._ She thought to herself, looking over her own words in contempt. She slumped down in her chair and sighed, rubbing her forehead in an attempt to quell her sharply rising fury. As she scrunched up the latest writing attempt, her door unexpectedly swung open, and her assistant walked in.

“What?!” Asami yelled at her scornfully, directing the anger she felt toward herself onto the other woman.

Lia came to a standstill in the doorway and her eyes went wide in shock, startled by her boss’ sudden outburst. Asami regretted her anger the second she laid eyes upon her assistant’s petrified face, and so she quickly calmed down and shifted back to her usual composed disposition.

“Lia, I’m so sorry. That was awful of me, I didn’t mean to snap at you.” Asami said remorsefully, sitting up straight.

“Don’t worry about it, Miss Sato. It’s all right.” Lia replied with a timid smile.

“No, it isn’t. You don’t deserve to be treated like that.”

“Thank you, but let’s just move past it, okay?”

“Okay.” Asami nodded. “Anyway, what was it you needed from me?”

“I just came in to let you know there’s someone here to see you.”

Asami looked away toward nothing in particular and slouched back into her chair. “I’d rather not speak to anyone right now. Just tell them to come back another time, please.”

“I really think you should see them.” Lia persisted. “He said he’s a friend, and by the looks of things you could use one right about now.”

Asami considered this for a moment and ultimately concluded that Lia was probably right. “Fine, show him in please.”

Lia bowed gracefully and walked off to fetch the visitor. Asami quickly took Korra’s letter and delicately hid it in her desk drawer, ensuring that it remain secret since Korra had asked her to not tell the others about it. Following this, she waited patiently where she sat, twiddling her pen between her middle and index finger.

After a short wait, her friend suddenly bounded around the corner and revealed himself.

“Bolin?” Asami murmured, surprised to see him out of the blue after so long.

“Asami!” He grinned cheerily as ever.

Without hesitation, she leapt up from her chair and rushed across the cluttered floor to pull her friend into a tight embrace, burying her head into his shoulder. At first Bolin was taken aback by the spur of the moment action, but he quickly relaxed and wrapped his arms around her. It didn’t take long before tears began to spill from her firmly shut eyelids, but even still she did not let go, holding him so tightly that even he had a hard time matching her force.

“It’s so good to see you again.” Asami whispered.

“You too. It’s been too long.”

After a considerably long time, Asami loosened her grip and pulled away, wiping her eyes as she straightened up. “Thanks. I really needed that.”

Bolin glanced around at all of the crumpled paper littering the floor before setting his gaze toward Asami’s weary visage. Upon meeting her eyes, his expression shifted from joy to concern. “How are you doing? You seem a little…out of sorts.”

“It’s been an emotional few days, I’ll be fine.” She said, quickly brushing off his worries. “What about you? How’s everything going with your journey around the Earth Kingdom?”

“It’s good, I guess.” He said noncommittally. “We’re doing good work and helping people, but I really miss you guys.”

“Well…at least I’m not the only one who feels lonely.” Asami laughed dryly, looking off to the side and brushing several stray strands of hair out of her face.

“Why don’t we sit down?” Bolin suggested after a moment of awkward silence, gesturing towards a large plush sofa in the corner of the office.

Asami barely nodded before hastily following along with his suggestion. Bolin waited for her to sit before he joined and sank into the sofa beside her.

“So…what brings you back to Republic City?” She asked.

“I get to take a break every now and then, and they let me return home for a few days. Since I’m not around for too long, I wanted to make sure I stopped by sooner rather than later.”

“I’m glad you did.” Asami turned to him and offered a weak, fleeting smile before sighing to herself. “None of us see each other anymore, it’s not right. You’re away, Mako keeps busy, _I_ keep busy, and Korra, she…she’s not here. I wish everything could go back to normal. I wish all four of us could go out and have lunch or, I don’t know, something, anything. I just want Korra to come back, I miss her so much.”

“Yeah, I miss her too. Life felt better when she was around.” Bolin added, looking down dejectedly. “I guess we’re all kinda blue nowadays.”

“Pfft, you can say that again.”

Bolin looked back up and turned to face Asami. “Do you still write to her?”

“Of course. As often as I can, at least.”

“Does she ever write back?”

“No, nothing yet.” Asami lied, as per Korra’s request.

“Neither. I write, but it’s hard to know if it really helps.” He shook his head and sighed loudly. “I can go around the Earth Kingdom trying to help people, but I can’t help Korra. I just hope she’s okay.”

Asami rested her hand onto Bolin’s back reassuringly. “I’m sure she appreciates the letters. I like to think they remind her she’ll never really be alone.”

Bolin met her gaze and smiled softly. “You’re right, I’m sure she’ll be back in no time.”

“Yeah, I hope so.” Asami said, leaning forward. “Korra’s the strongest person I’ve ever met, so I know she’ll recover, even if she doesn’t think she can. But there’s one thing that’s been bothering me, she’s been gone for so long, what if when she comes back she doesn’t even know us anymore? What if we’re all no more than strangers to her?”

“Well…it probably won’t be easy, but she’s our friend, so we’ll make it work.” Bolin assured her. “One day soon, when she’s better and comes back, we’ll all go out together. We can get lunch, whatever she wants. Team Avatar forever, right?”

Asami sprung toward Bolin and pulled him into another tight embrace, smiling brightly in spite of her sorrow. “Always. Team Avatar forever.”

Once she pulled away, Bolin spoke up once again. “Listen, I know it won’t be the same without Korra, but I thought maybe you, me, Mako, and Opal could go out for dinner tonight.”

“I don’t know. I was in the middle of something before you arrived, I should probably get back to it.” Asami mumbled.

“I really think you should come, it’ll be good for all of us. When was the last time you just went out and relaxed anyway?”

“I, um…I can’t remember. I suppose it’s been a while.”

“That’s all the more reason why you should come with us, spend an evening doing something carefree for once.” Bolin insisted. “Trust me, it’ll be fun! Plus, look outside, the rain’s subsiding. If that’s not a sign from the universe, I don’t know what is. Come on, it’s my treat. Whaddya say?”

“I’d like to, but…do you think we’d be betraying Korra?” Asami asked despondently, looking over to her desk. “I’m not sure I can go out and have fun knowing she’s alone and in pain.”

Bolin lightly gripped onto her shoulder to affirm her. “I get it. She’s hurting and it’s awful and unfair, but you’ve done everything you can to help. You’re allowed to be happy; you shouldn’t beat yourself up for that.”

“I know. I just don’t know how.” Asami shut her eyes and exhaled slowly, shaking her head. “I can’t go out. I’m sorry. I’d love to, but I just can’t.”

“Okay.” Bolin conceded downheartedly after a moment of silence. “I know how you feel, you want to help Korra, all of us do, but you need to look after yourself as well. We’re gonna go to Sojiro’s, that little café we all went to a few times, so if you change your mind you can meet us there in an hour or so. I really hope you come, but I’ll understand if you don’t.”

Asami looked downward and nodded toward him in acknowledgement, intentionally avoiding eye contact.

He got up from his seat and turned to face Asami. “Alright, I should probably get going. I’m staying at Mako’s place while I’m in Republic City, so feel free to swing by if you want to talk or anything.”

“Bolin, wait…thank you for coming to see me. It really does mean a lot.” Asami smiled faintly, but sincerely, looking up and meeting his eyes.

“That’s what friends are for.” He grinned back, before reluctantly moving away. Slowly, he made his way over to the exit and walked out, leaving the door ajar.

Just as quickly as her friend had arrived, he was gone, leaving Asami alone in her office once again. Falling back into the sofa, she shut her eyes, furious at the internal conflict she found herself trapped in.

“Korra, what do I do?” Asami sighed to herself.

“Um, Miss Sato?”

Asami sharply opened her eyes and leapt forward in her seat upon hearing the other voice. Looking up, she saw Lia standing before her, and looking somewhat uncomfortable after startling her boss.

“Sorry to disturb you,” She continued, darting her gaze between Asami and the floor. “I just came in to see if you needed anything. It’s getting late, so I was going to head home in a minute.”

“Right, of course.” Asami murmured. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure; anything.” Lia declared, standing attentively.

“Okay, hypothetically speaking, let’s say you have a friend who’s…unwell, and staying in the South Pole, and you have some other friends who are here in the City. Now, you could go out with your friends and have fun whilst this first friend is suffering, or you could stay home and try to write a letter to the unwell friend to make them feel better. If you were in this situation, what would you do?”

Lia paused for a moment and considered her answer before she began. “Well, I think I’d be sad if I didn’t see my friends here in the City. If I stayed at home instead, I don’t think I’d be able to do a very good job of helping my sick friend since I would be feeling down myself. In my experience, you’ll have a tough time trying to help someone else if you neglect your own wellbeing.

Asami nodded intently before meeting her assistant’s eyes. “Thank you, Lia. That was really helpful.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

“By the way, about earlier…I really am sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, it didn’t really bother me that much, I was just a little shocked. I can tell you’ve got a lot on your mind, so please don’t trouble yourself over something so trivial.” Lia offered a reassuring smile, her spirit practically radiating benevolence to such a degree it was inspiring.

Asami felt a strong resolve emanating from the depths of her own soul. Empowered by the comforting words of those around her, she found a renewed strength which gave her the potential to move forward. She took the first step ahead by wholeheartedly returning Lia’s smile.

Lia chuckled slightly in contentment, glad to see Asami relieved of some burdern, and smiling unreservedly for the first time in recent memory. “If there’s nothing else, I’m going to head home if that’s okay with you.”

“Yes, of course. Have a nice night.”

“You too, Miss Sato.” Lia grinned at her knowingly. “I hope you have a good time with your friends; I’m sure you’ll be able to help your other friend in due time. I really hope they get well soon.”

“Yeah, I hope so too.”

Once Lia left, Asami cleaned up the crumpled paper from the floor and ushered it all into the nearest waste bin, disposing of the failed attempts at writing to make way for the success she was sure would arrive soon. Following this, she took Korra’s letter from her desk drawer, folded it in half, and slid it into her jacket pocket before heading down to her Satomobile.

The drive home was short, but pleasant, and granted Asami some much needed serenity. Now that the rain clouds had completely dispersed, she was able to collapse the roof on her Satomobile before setting off, allowing her to glide through the streets with the warm sunset caressing her skin and the cool wind sweeping through her hair. Although it may have been fleeting, the moment of peace was a wonderful change of pace, and she greatly appreciated it.

Once home, she strode inside and before anything else headed upstairs to her bedroom with Korra’s letter in hand. She gently placed it atop the nightstand and sighed quietly, averting her gaze from it. “I’m sorry, Korra. I promise I’ll write soon.”

Although Asami desperately wished to help Korra, she knew that Bolin and Lia were right, and she needed to look after herself too; dinner with friends seemed like a good place to start. There was still a little while to go before it was time to leave, and so Asami spent a fair amount of time trying on a plethora of different outfits and styling her hair, eventually settling for a smart casual look complete with a shoal and accompanied by a low ponytail.

Dressed for the evening, she prepared herself to set out. She got to the hall, picked up her keys, and took a casual glance at the clock, only to realise far more time had passed than she first thought, and she was running late. In a panic induced haze, she sprinted out of the front door, jumped into her Satomobile, and drove like the wind to her friends.

* * *

For twenty minutes, Bolin, Mako, and Opal had been waiting outside the café. They would have gone in already, but Bolin had convinced them to wait for a short time just in case Asami decided to come along after all.

“It’s been quite a while now.” Mako shrugged, looking over to Bolin. “Do you think she’s going to show?”

“I don’t know. Probably not, I guess.” Bolin sighed disappointedly. “I just really hoped she would. It’s been so long since we all got together, I thought it would do us all some good.”

“I wish she was here too, but if she doesn’t want to be there’s not a lot we can do.” Mako said cheerlessly.

“Yeah, I guess you’re probably right.” Bolin replied, looking down in sorrow.

Opal tenderly rested a hand onto her boyfriend’s shoulder in an attempt to offer him some comfort. “I’m sorry, Bo. We should go inside, I’m not sure she’s–”

“Sorry I’m late!”

At the sound of the voice, all three of them turned around and to their surprise saw Asami bustling toward them. They all beamed at her, joy plastered across all of their faces, a sentiment which she returned in kind.

“Hey, Asami. You look, um…good.” Mako stammered, smiling awkwardly and rubbing the back of his head.

Opal turned to him and rolled her eyes before looking over to Asami with a grin. “He’s trying to say you look beautiful, which you absolutely do.”

Bolin nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you’re looking a lot healthier than earlier.”

Asami let out a short laugh and continued to smile brightly. “Thank you, I feel a lot better now. It’s good to see you all.”

“I didn’t think you were coming. What made you change your mind?” Bolin asked.

“Good advice, and even better friends.” Asami stated decisively, Bolin and Lia’s counsel still running through her mind. “Now come on, I’ve kept you all waiting long enough, we should get inside.”

Their evening was delightful. The café echoed with laughter emanating from the group, causing mild displeasure to the other customers, who expressed their vexation by way of scarcely audible tutting. Asami was grateful to finally be back among friends, after being away from them for so long she had forgotten just how much fun they had together, and just how much she loved being around them.

It was difficult to not think of Korra in this moment. About how she would have adored this moment just as the rest of them did, and how she would have made everyone even happier than they already were. Asami couldn’t stop thinking about her, and nor did she wish to, but the presence of their friends did manage to prevent these thoughts from consuming her very being, allowing her some respite from the never-ending worry.

When they all ultimately departed and said their farewells, Asami found herself leaving in high spirits, her friends having uplifted her immensely. Once she was home and snuggled in bed, she drifted off to sleep easily, her mind clear, and ready to help Korra.


End file.
